OK guys, I've been asked to put a pickin' together for this coming weekend for a friend of mine by his sister. Got a pit. Getting the wood Thurs. Get the whole pig Fri.evening. You guys have had some killer posts with the appetizers, sides, and all that. In addition to the usual sides what do y'all think would put this thing over the top. Three days isn't much time for a 75 person barn burner. I'm in need of some creativity here.
Thanks, Craig

Craig,
If you want traditional stuff, then I would go with chicken wings, smoked spicy sausage (Chorizo, andouille ..etc), grilled stuffed chili. These are always crowd pleasers. If you want something new, try my Grilled Panini recipe (see the post). I also have a good recipe for corn bread with smoked sausage if you want I could post it.
No matter what you do, I hope you’ll have fun, that's what it is all about.

Try the burger recipe by SPfranz posted under the burger recipe-no bread crumbs thread. Also, I can't say this enough- Buffa-cue wings by the guru posted under the Techniques and recipies section at the top of the page. Make sure to marinate the wings overnight if you really want to impress. I would recommend doing ribs, but you might be short on time and cooking area for that amount of people, so instead I would recommend some beer can chicken for ease of preperation. For something different to impress, grill up some carrots, peppers, squash, and other vegies and throw some potatos, wrapped in foil, right on the embers. I believe that you can rarely go wrong with shish kabobs. For dessert, grill up some pinaple slices coated with some butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Alot of these things are not in the appetizer catagory, but not everyone may enjoy the pork, so you way want to have options for the other people. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

OK guys, I've been asked to put a pickin' together for this coming weekend for a friend of mine by his sister. Got a pit. Getting the wood Thurs. Get the whole pig Fri.evening. You guys have had some killer posts with the appetizers, sides, and all that. In addition to the usual sides what do y'all think would put this thing over the top. Three days isn't much time for a 75 person barn burner. I'm in need of some creativity here. Thanks, Craig

Traditional Carolina pig pickin'...hmmm...how bout:

Fries
HUSH PUPPIES
Onion Rings
SLAW!
Biscuits
Corn Bread
Beans (use fat from the pig to sit on top while simmering)
Brunswick Stew (cook it with the pig, have it in cast iron pot)
Baked potatoes (twice baked or loaded)
Potato salad
Any BBQ must have hotdogs for those without a clue and kids (I know it sucks)
wings were already mentioned but they're easy. Don't be afraid to cook ahead of time and reheat for the day.

Oysters are a great idea blackdog! Especially this time of year, although I think raw would work really well because he doesn't have extra work to do then and he'll be trying to minimize how much work he does since the pig and guests will occupy him plenty. Just set out a couple bushels and someone will start shucking. Or he could opt to steam them. Make some nice cocktail sauce to go with it. I use high grade horse radish (use fresh if you can), ketchup, worcestershire and lime juice.

Hi, Craig,
Whole hog is the sort of baptism by fire you have to go through yourself.
You'll find some basic guidelines and recipes on pages 255-257 and 300-304 in BBQ USA and on page 154-158 in How to Grill.
Remember, you'll always need more time, wood, and beer than you think.
Let us know how it works out.
Steven Raichlen

I agree with Steve. I think if some of you inspected every piece of wood under a microscope you might never use wood again and that would be a tragedy. IT's a matter of degrees as I said. I've used wood that's had some mild mold growth on the surface but the wood itself wasn't compromised or rotted nor did it have large fungal growths. It burned down fine and didn't impart any strange tastes. For smoke wood, I always use chunks from a store bought bag (on very rare occasion chips) so it's never been an issue.

According to the weather man, we're getting straight rain fri-sat morning. The deal goes down on sunday afternoon-evening. Thanks for the help!! The hog on the pit is the easy part. But the pre-pig festivities glory goes to you guys. Most of the sides that Airfoils mentioned will be used. The Buffa-Q wings, oysters, and panini, will be on my Lodge cast iron sportsman grill (Hibachi), y'all would love this jewel! Check out Lodge's web site and pick it up at Wal-Mart for 50.00. Two beer can birds will in the kettle, one cajun, one garlic herb. Wood? You can believe I'll have at LEAST a pickup load of green hickory. Beer? I'm a NASCAR fan and live in the south, We will have enough. Sadly, Airfoils is right, hotdogs for the clueless and kids. Maybe this will be enough to convert them. After smoking at 215 until done with the sauce the rub, and the great smell, I believe any one of us online Que-heads could turn a PETA member to the light. Again, many thanks for the suggestions, gonna be busy for a few, I'll check back after the fire goes down.
Thanks, Craig

I couldn't think of anything more Ethical than going whole hog...oh, wait, I mean Ethnical, my bad. I'm sure this pig will be eaten with the greatest respect. PETA or not, have some great food & fun with family & friends! Let's us know how things turn out.